We are trying to address scripting which is very much anxiety driven, hyperactivity and irritation (not aggression, but constantly grouchy bc his scripts are being interrupted). My son is 9 and we just tried transdermal LDN for a few weeks. No huge changes and if anything slightly more irritated than usual. I was very hopeful the first couple of days, but I think it was a fluke. His dr believes these behaviors aren't 100% within his control and I agree. He knows he shouldn't be doing them all day long, but I don't think he can help it and I hate for him to be constantly redirected. That said the 2 medications I'm thinking of are Lexapro or Namenda. Side note he tried Celexa last year (only other med we've tried) and although he was on a super small dose I didn't see any change in his anxiety driven behaviors so I didn't increase it and pulled it. I was just curious if anyone has used either of these meds and if so would you be willing to share with me your experience? I've read tons of threads here. But most are based on beginning responses and I was curious if anyone stayed the course and how things are going. THANK yOU!!!

We have been doing Lexapro, 5mg/pm, for the past 4 months. I saw more socialization in the 1st month. But now either I got used to it or I don't see it anymore. I have been thinking of stopping Lexapro to see if he gets worse or may be increasing it to see if he gets a boost. Overall, Lexapro hasn't been a big wow. He still stims on it, and, when he comes to school, his attention drops to zero (I was hoping it was anxiety related). Whether it is because of Lexapro or other things we have done (Bumetanide, Inulin fiber, Bacopa), but my son is definitely higher functioning than 6 months ago.

I would recommend trying Namenda instead of Lexapro. I remember it significantly reduced my son's scripting 4 years ago, but also caused irritability, which is rare according to his doctor. Keep in mind that Namenda acts as an agonist at dopamine D2 receptors, which can be good for learning but contra-indicated for schizophrenia. It also blocks alpha-7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, which are important for cognition. Nevertheless, I think it is still worth trying.

FatherOf2 wrote:We have been doing Lexapro, 5mg/pm, for the past 4 months. I saw more socialization in the 1st month. But now either I got used to it or I don't see it anymore. I have been thinking of stopping Lexapro to see if he gets worse or may be increasing it to see if he gets a boost. Overall, Lexapro hasn't been a big wow. He still stims on it, and, when he comes to school, his attention drops to zero (I was hoping it was anxiety related). Whether it is because of Lexapro or other things we have done (Bumetanide, Inulin fiber, Bacopa), but my son is definitely higher functioning than 6 months ago.

I would recommend trying Namenda instead of Lexapro. I remember it significantly reduced my son's scripting 4 years ago, but also caused irritability, which is rare according to his doctor. Keep in mind that Namenda acts as an agonist at dopamine D2 receptors, which can be good for learning but contra-indicated for schizophrenia. It also blocks alpha-7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, which are important for cognition. Nevertheless, I think it is still worth trying.

Thank you for sharing! To your knowledge are there any issues being on Namenda long term?

Not that I know. At large doses (for humans around 120mg), Namenda can cause brain lesions. I am guessing it is due to blocking NMDA receptors too much and neurons dying. Long term Namenda just stops working. In Alzheimers studies, all patients returned to normal after about 3 months and continued regression afterwards at the same rate as the control group: http://slideplayer.com/slide/10247032/ As I said here several times, blocking or activating receptors only works temporarily until brain adjust their density to maintain homeostasis. That is why Alzheimer's is not cured yet. You need to cycle Namenda: once you stop seeing improvements and see regression (should take about 2-3 months), stop it. Give it a break for a couple of months and repeat.

FatherOf2 wrote:We have been doing Lexapro, 5mg/pm, for the past 4 months. I saw more socialization in the 1st month. But now either I got used to it or I don't see it anymore. I have been thinking of stopping Lexapro to see if he gets worse or may be increasing it to see if he gets a boost. Overall, Lexapro hasn't been a big wow. He still stims on it, and, when he comes to school, his attention drops to zero (I was hoping it was anxiety related). Whether it is because of Lexapro or other things we have done (Bumetanide, Inulin fiber, Bacopa), but my son is definitely higher functioning than 6 months ago.

I would recommend trying Namenda instead of Lexapro. I remember it significantly reduced my son's scripting 4 years ago, but also caused irritability, which is rare according to his doctor. Keep in mind that Namenda acts as an agonist at dopamine D2 receptors, which can be good for learning but contra-indicated for schizophrenia. It also blocks alpha-7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, which are important for cognition. Nevertheless, I think it is still worth trying.

Did you use 5-HTP? We haven't, but I'm wondering if I should look into it before beginning a medication. I need to research it since admittedly I know nothing about it function or it's dosing.

Jillh wrote:Did you use 5-HTP? We haven't, but I'm wondering if I should look into it before beginning a medication. I need to research it since admittedly I know nothing about it function or it's dosing.

No, I haven't tried 5-HTP. You may consider Rhodiola. It has anti-anxiety and nootropic actions. The nootropic action comes from boosting dopamine activity. I have been staying away from dopamine boosting supplements, but I was wrong. My son needs dopamine, and this may be due to his MTHFR A1298C +/+ mutation. I started Rhodiola this week and am seeing better attention and eye contact. I don't see any of exaggeration of behaviors typically seen on ADHD stimulants. I was afraid that Rhodiola will make my son irritable, but so far it hasn't. If the improvements from Rhodiola continue, I may try Ritalin.

Thanks for the suggestion! His dr has limited experience prescribing Namenda to children. She is going to consult with her psychiatric colleagues. She feels Lexapro will be a good fit and sees it help a lot of children with ASD and anxiety. I have a good feeling about trying Lexapro and believe it will give him a bit of relief. He works so hard and tries and knows what he should be doing, but sadly most days i think he's just managing and that's not what I want for him. If Lexapro will take that edge off I'm willing to try it. I'm a bit nervous about side effects. I read about a lot of children gaining a lot of weight and others that became activated. Any effects for your son?

Jillh wrote:Thanks for the suggestion! His dr has limited experience prescribing Namenda to children. She is going to consult with her psychiatric colleagues. She feels Lexapro will be a good fit and sees it help a lot of children with ASD and anxiety. I have a good feeling about trying Lexapro and believe it will give him a bit of relief. He works so hard and tries and knows what he should be doing, but sadly most days i think he's just managing and that's not what I want for him. If Lexapro will take that edge off I'm willing to try it. I'm a bit nervous about side effects. I read about a lot of children gaining a lot of weight and others that became activated. Any effects for your son?

I haven't seen any side effects from Lexapro. We are only on 5mg given in the evening. I think it stopped working about 2 months ago (we have been giving it for 4 months). There is an asperger guy on another forum who said that when he was a child or teenager, his parents gave him an SSRI for quite a while and it dulled him, suppressed his emotions, made impotent. Now, being an adult and an owner of a small company, he is taking supplements boosting his dopamine and he wished his parents did the same when he was younger, his grades would have been much better. He is very anti-SSRI and pro-dopamine.

I was thinking of removing the stuff that I think has stopped working: Lexapro, Bumetanide, Bacopa just to make it easy on his liver. So far, I am very impressed with Rhodiola (my son almost acts as a normal boy) and will focus on boosting his dopamine system. By the way, boosting serotonin is just one of possible paths to reduce anxiety. Another one is through blocking CRH. After an extensive websearch, I could find only 3 supplements that block CRH: Quercetin (already on it), Rhodiola (just started), and Schisandra (people eat its berries like raisins).

This is very helpful! Which brand of Rhodiola are you using and how often? I've not heard of it before but I will definitely look into it before staring Lexapro. May be worth a shot to try first. Thanks!

Rhodiola was recommended by Marya who visits this forum often. I have read an article, which recommended this brand and I bought it:Perfect Rhodiola Rosea 60 Vegetable Capsules, by Perfect SupplementsI give one capsule in the morning